diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index a355018c03..a652340071 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -5070,6 +5070,10 @@ virQEMUCapsInitQMPBasicArch(virQEMUCaps *qemuCaps)
 
     case VIR_ARCH_PPC64:
     case VIR_ARCH_PPC64LE:
+        virQEMUCapsSet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_MACHINE_PSERIES_RESIZE_HPT);
+        virQEMUCapsSet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_MACHINE_PSERIES_MAX_CPU_COMPAT);
+        break;
+
     case VIR_ARCH_ALPHA:
     case VIR_ARCH_PPC:
     case VIR_ARCH_PPCEMB:
@@ -5129,15 +5133,6 @@ virQEMUCapsInitQMPVersionCaps(virQEMUCaps *qemuCaps)
     virQEMUCapsSet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_EGL_HEADLESS);
     virQEMUCapsSet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_NUMA_DIST);
 
-    if (ARCH_IS_PPC64(qemuCaps->arch)) {
-        /* HPT resizing is supported since QEMU 2.10 on ppc64; unfortunately
-         * there's no sane way to probe for it */
-        virQEMUCapsSet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_MACHINE_PSERIES_RESIZE_HPT);
-
-        /* no way to query max-cpu-compat */
-        virQEMUCapsSet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_MACHINE_PSERIES_MAX_CPU_COMPAT);
-    }
-
     /* -enable-fips is deprecated in QEMU 5.2.0, and QEMU
      * should be built with gcrypt to achieve FIPS compliance
      * automatically / implicitly
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/pseries-cpu-compat-power9.args b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/pseries-cpu-compat-power9.args
index 00857740ae..f7f500da39 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/pseries-cpu-compat-power9.args
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/pseries-cpu-compat-power9.args
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ QEMU_AUDIO_DRV=none \
 /usr/bin/qemu-system-ppc64 \
 -name QEMUGuest1 \
 -S \
--machine pseries,accel=kvm,usb=off,dump-guest-core=off \
--cpu host,compat=power9 \
+-machine pseries,accel=kvm,usb=off,dump-guest-core=off,max-cpu-compat=power9 \
+-cpu host \
 -m 256 \
 -realtime mlock=off \
 -smp 4,sockets=4,cores=1,threads=1 \
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/pseries-cpu-compat.args b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/pseries-cpu-compat.args
index 8ace0b1623..7871651f9b 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/pseries-cpu-compat.args
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/pseries-cpu-compat.args
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ QEMU_AUDIO_DRV=none \
 /usr/bin/qemu-system-ppc64 \
 -name QEMUGuest1 \
 -S \
--machine pseries,accel=kvm,usb=off,dump-guest-core=off \
--cpu host,compat=power7 \
+-machine pseries,accel=kvm,usb=off,dump-guest-core=off,max-cpu-compat=power7 \
+-cpu host \
 -m 256 \
 -realtime mlock=off \
 -smp 4,sockets=4,cores=1,threads=1 \